The ancient eavesdropper

Tree
rings 
following 
repeated 
ellipses —
circumscribed 
within 
its 
shell —
a smaller 
solar 
system.

Note: It’s another trip around the sun for me. 43 years young and still kicking! Thanks for joining me on this wild ride called life 😊☮️🌻💛🌲

Moss adorns 

ent arms —

viridescent fur coat 

covers bare bark —

Seventies 

shag carpet 

in a multistory

conifer apartment. 

At dusk warm 

empyrean hues 

evanesce —

as Sambucus 

cerulea stands 

sentry —

berries 

ripening with 

wisdom. 

When I embarked on this journey
I had no firm idea of finality,
as the trail curved, my compass swerved 
to readjust its center of gravity.
Landmarks emblazoned in my mind’s map,
tracing contours, racing rivers 
and scaling obstacles.
I thought of sleep, eyes open, awake,
always on my feet, missing no moments 
for fear they would escape.
Dirt-caked clothing caught 
in the roaring mess of existence,
heart pacing inside
a claustrophobic rib-caged vestibule,
pumping, beating all doors down
with the urgency of blood-rushing adrenaline.
Bone-grazing, marrow-sucking survival instinct,
boots clawing the mountainside,
hands grasping for tree twigs, water and thin air,
teeth gnashing, raw flesh, muscles churning;
what furious splendor in the unknown endeavor.
Exceeding the apex of ability 
and hitting the nerve nature reserves 
for a chosen few, their bodies forged of tough,
lean sinew.

Note: On this day 13 years ago, I started my blogging journey on WordPress. What a wild ride it has been! This poem I wrote that first month. One month later, a WordPress editor came knocking and my poem, “A Different Knowhow,” was featured on Freshly Pressed. While I was floored by this news, behind the scenes I was unemployed and coming up short in the interview process. My confidence was taking a hit. However, I found my voice with my blog, and even with unemployment setbacks, I never lost faith in myself and my abilities. The WordPress Community embraced me and became a second family of sorts. I cannot express enough gratitude for the words of encouragement and support that everyone showed when I needed it the most. As in this poem, Nature and life test you and push you beyond your limits. You learn what you are made out of and I am steel wrapped in rawhide (an expression from my Dad). Thank you to all my subscribers and cheers to another 13 years! 😊💛🌻☮️

Peddling their sidewalk wares —

in your face with pink crepe —

rhododendron propaganda. 

Note: you may be wondering what crepe has to do with anything. It’s a French word for crinkled or curled which aptly describes rhododendron flowers. I also love words with double meanings because it sounds like pink crap. These rhodies loitering in the streets, pawning off their pink crap, jeez! My world revolves around 3rd grade humor (my daughter’s grade) and Dad jokes 😊

If nature knows not of my existence,
aside from the small space I occupy,
then I am a tolerable roommate
lodging among noble beasts
who have adapted to separate ways
of surviving.

I see the squirrel, elk and crow
leaving their trails of tracks and feathers,
the duff stirred and signed in a sacred fashion.
May we converge underground,
tangled in the roots of an ancient eavesdropper
who has absorbed all the stories of this world.

Note: You may be wondering why the title for this post seems redundant. However, this was in fact the poem I wrote in 2010 that inspired the name of my blog. This poem will always be special to me and I hope my words resonate with you. Thank you to my subscribers for your kindness and support all these years. It means the world to me 😊🌻☮️💛